Meld vs UltraCompare
Meld
meldmerge.orgUltraCompare
ultraedit.comSide by side
| Figure | Meld | UltraCompare |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $8.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 4 |
| Spec score · Diff and Merge Tools | 7.3 (#24) | 8.3 (#9) |
| Intended users | The site describes Meld as a tool for reviewing code changes, understanding patches, and comparing version controlled projects. | The maker lists developers and engineers, IT and system administrators, QA and technical writers, and legal, compliance, and business teams as users. |
| Purpose | Meld compares files, directories, and version controlled projects. | UltraCompare compares and merges text files, folders, and documents including Word, Excel, and PDF. |
| Support | The site directs users to open an issue for problems or ask on the discussion board for help. | The maker offers an AI assistant for feature, setup, workflow, or licensing help, support cases, FAQs, documentation, and a community run forum. |
| Version control | Meld supports Git, Mercurial, Bazaar, and Subversion, and can be used with tools such as git mergetool. | It integrates with Git, Subversion, and CVS as a difftool and mergetool. |
Plans
UltraCompare
- UltraEdit Core Subscription$99.95 a year
- UltraEdit Enterprise Subscription$119.95 a year
- UltraEdit Core Perpetual$179.95, paid once
- UltraEdit Enterprise Perpetual$249.95, paid once
In their own words
Meld
Meld is a free, open-source desktop tool for comparing files, directories and version-controlled projects. It provides two-way and three-way comparisons, with live updates while files are edited and merged. Three-way merge assistance handles conflicts and shows the base version. Folder comparisons identify missing or modified files, let users open deeper file comparisons, and can ignore selected files or folders. Meld supports Git, Mercurial, Bazaar and Subversion, including use with tools such as git mergetool. It is packaged for most Linux and Unix distributions and is available through Flathub. Windows users download an installer; automatic updates and portable installations are not supported. Meld is not yet supported on macOS, although the site points to semi-official builds and package-manager options. The project is licensed under GPLv2 or later, except as noted. The listed Meld plan costs nothing, and the stable release shown is 3.24.0.
UltraCompare
UltraCompare compares and merges files, folders, and documents, including Word, Excel, and PDF. It can show two or three files side by side and lets users merge differences visually. Folder tools compare, merge, and synchronize directory structures, with rule-based automation available. For spreadsheets and other tabular data, it can compare and merge cells, rows, or columns, including across multiple Excel sheets. UltraCompare works as a diff and merge tool with Git, Subversion, and CVS. It can compare remote files over FTP or SFTP and by URL, and folders over FTP and network shares. ZIP, RAR, and JAR contents can be compared without extraction. Additional tools include highlighting for characters, words, or lines; options to ignore whitespace or case; editable comparisons; saved sessions; and HTML or text reports. The maker lists Windows, macOS, and Linux, while a fully functional Windows trial includes all features for 30 days. There is no free plan. Subscriptions start at $99.95 a year for Core or $119.95 a year for Enterprise; perpetual options cost 179.95 USD or 249.95 USD once.